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Lightning sparks wildfires in Rifle area

Crews are fighting a wildfire that is burning perhaps 15 acres in the Beaver Creek drainage south of Rifle, said Chad Harris, deputy chief of Colorado River Fire Rescue.

The fire is one of several that started in the Rifle area after a dry lightning storm moved through the area this evening. Harris said that as far as he knew, crews are still working on the others but none had grown bigger than a single tree.

Heavy wind gusts caused quick growth in the Beaver Creek fire, which Harris said started around 8 p.m. The glow of flames was visible from miles away across Interstate 70 as dusk fell.
Structures are nearby but none are threatened, and no evacuations have occurred, Harris said.

“We do have crews on it and we’ll be working it through the night into the morning,” he said.

He said about 20 engine and hand crews from his agency, the Grand Valley Fire Department and the Bureau of Land Management are battling the fire.